Published 14:10 IST, January 25th 2020
Nirbhaya case: Convict Mukesh Singh moves SC challenging President's pardon rejection
After President Ram Nath Kovind rejected Nirbhaya convict Mukesh Singh's mercy petition, he has moved the Supreme Court challenging it along with death warrant
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After President Ram Nath Kovind rejected Nirbhaya convict Mukesh Singh's mercy petition, he has moved the Supreme Court challenging it on Saturday. Sources report that he has also demanded the death warrant date on February 1 be set aside. Earlier in the day, slamming delay tactics, the Patiala House court dismissed the convicts' counsel A P Singh's plea alleging Tihar jail not handing over documents, stating that no further directions were required.
President rejects mercy plea
Previously on December 17, President Ram Nath Kovind has rejected convict Mukesh Singh's mercy plea. His curative petition has already been dismissed by the Supreme Court. As the Delhi government told the High Court that the four rapists will not be hanged on January 22, the Patiala House court subsequently gave a new date for their death warrant - February 1. The four convicts- Vinay Sharma (26), Mukesh Kumar (32), Akshay Kumar Singh (31) and Pawan Gupta (25) are housed in Jail No. 3 where they will be hanged.
Other pleas filed by convicts
On Friday, Nirbhaya rape convicts' lawyer A P Singh moved the Patiala House Court stating that Tihar jail authorities are yet to release documents to file curative and mercy petitions for convicts - Vinay, Pavan, and Akshay in the Supreme Court. On Monday, a 3-judge Supreme Court bench comprising Justices R Banumathi, Ashok Bhushan and AS Bopanna dismissed the juvenility plea of Pawan Gupta, one of the convicts in the Nirbhaya rape and murder case. Previously, the Delhi High Court had reaffirmed that Gupta was not a juvenile when he committed the ghastly crime on December 16, 2012.
What is the Nirbhaya case?
23-year-old paramedic student Nirbhaya was gang-raped inside a running bus by six persons on December 16, 2012, in Delhi. The victim was severely assaulted and thrown out on the road along with her male friend and succumbed to injuries a few days later. Out of the six convicts, one committed suicide in prison, while another, a juvenile, served maximum punishment of three years in a reform home and was set free in 2015. The remaining four rapists were convicted and handed the death penalty by a trial court in 2013, confirmed by the Delhi High Court in March 2014. The Supreme Court upheld the Delhi High Court's verdict in 2017.
14:10 IST, January 25th 2020